God,
**** them *******
before they **** me.

Amen.

r ~ 9/18/14

This is the Field Marshall, tall and grand,
Who bellowed at Generals beneath his command,
Who shouted at Brigadiers in fine attire,
Who hollered at Colonels to make them jump higher,
Who screeched at the Majors and caused them to shake,
Who yelled at the Captains to keep them awake,
Who squawked at Lieutenants to keep them in line,
Who wailed at the Sergeants in double quick time,
Who shrieked at the Corporals and made them feel small,
Who screamed at the Privates worth nothing at all,
Who stood in the trenches and will never forget,
When they ran a man through with a fixed bayonet,
And held his hands tightly, as watching him die,
They whispered to no one, *"Oh why, but oh why?"

I knew that she was trouble
From the moment she walked in
With red hair down just to her waist
And a body built for sin

I'd worked this bar for twenty years
And I knew when I first saw her
That tonight would end in heartbreak
With fists flying with the fur

She knew what she was doing
Didn't even look around
Just walked up to the bar stool
And sat down without a sound
The drinks she did not order
Were poured and on their way
This girl came in for trouble
And now, trouble's on the way

Her shirt was buttoned from the top
Two up , the rest undone
She was looking for a good time
She was here to have some fun

The jeans, well they were awesome
They were tight enough to show
She had four quarters in her pockets
And the rest...I think you know

The girl sat down and pondered
As she sipped on the first drink
I watched her from the shadows
It gave me time to think

Which man would be the first one
To approach and be shot down?
Who would be the lucky loser
To get some tarnish on his crown?

A young man chose to venture
To the bar out from the crowd
She just listened to his proposal
And he stood up then and bowed

He walked back to the dance floor
To his table with his friends
Picked up his coat and left them
You know the message that this sends

Another drink soon followed
And the sender came to flirt
It only took ten seconds
Before she stomped him into dirt

I smiled and watched the players
Enter slow and back off fast
I looked around to check out
Just how long this game would last

The drinks had slowed on down now
Not too many left to try
And from the success rate of the others
It was easy to see why

A little fellow wandered
Through the crowd beside the girl
I thought, I'll watch this one a while
I'd like to see him twirl

He waited for the music
To get loud and then he turned
Into her ear he whispered
And she just looked like she'd been burned

At this point she leaned forward
And she ordered him a beer
I'd never seen her buy one
I thought this very queer

I poured the draft and asked him
How did he get the drink for free
He said "This girl's my daughter"
"And she's coming home with me!!"

If you saw me sitting in the park

Feeding pigeons for a while

Would you give me not a second thought

Would you look at me and smile?

If while I fed the pigeons

I was talking really loud

With no one there to listen

Not one person, not a crowd

Would you look at me as crazy

Would you think my mind was messed?

Now put me in my uniform

With my medals on my chest

Now, would this make it different

Am I different than before?

For I didn't leave home like this

It's the end result of war

If you stood and saw me stumble

From a bar mid afternoon

Would you look at me and think

"This one's drunk too soon"?

Would you turn or change direction?

Would you stay out of my path?

Or would you slowly walk behind me

And shake your head or maybe laugh?

Would you look at me as crazy?

Would you think my mind was messed?

Now put me in my uniform

With my medals on my chest

Now, would this make it different

Am I different than before?

For I didn't leave home like this

It's the end result of war

If you saw me in a wheelchair

On my crutches hobbling by

Would you look at me as feeble

Or would you turn away and sigh?

Would you wonder just what happened

To make me handicapped a might

Or would you turn and switch direction?

So I wasn't in your sight

Would you think that I was lazy?

Just because I couldn't walk

Would you look at me as feeble?

Would you take the time to talk?

Just because I might be different

Doesn't mean we are not equal

There is two sides to a story

There can always be a sequel

Just because you might dress better

And your suit is cut so fine

I ask you just one question

Would you lay it on the line?

If your country came and asked you

Would you sign up in a sec

Or would you think there's always others

I can just go write a cheque

Now, if you saw me in the park again

Standing solemn, lost in space

Would you wonder what I'm thinking?

Would you even see my face?

Would you see me as a person?

Would you walk on by and laugh?

Would you ever even notice

I was at the cenotaph

Would you look at me as crazy?

Would you think my mind was messed?

Now put me in my uniform

With my medals on my chest

Now, would this make it different

Am I different than before?

For I didn't leave home like this

It's the end result of war

But, if you saw me feeding pigeons

I ask you sir, would you

If you saw me in my uniform

Dare to come and say "Thank You"?
.

This piece of land I call my own

One day shall be overgrown

But one thing that is always shown

Is that people here are free

Lavender scent fills the air

People laughing everwhere

Old frenchmen sitting on the stairs

These things just need to be

Wander close and hear the sounds

There are birds and insects all around

But, we are all beneath the ground

And these we will not see

I lie beneath the sunlit sky

For this place is where I did die

For me I ask that you not cry

I died for my country

Birds are flying overhead

Beneath their flight lay we the dead

The ground was once stained deep blood red

From here you smell the sea

When I was here the sky was black

You could not see each new attack

We'd take one hill, they'd take in back

I was only twenty three

My medals are not on my chest

They're home, I hope like all the rest

I died but did fulfill my quest

I made these people free

I will not age forever more

I will not make it twenty four

But where I lay, there's ten score more

Who believed the same as me

I came to France in Wintertime

The battlefield was mud and slime

The beauty gone, it was a crime

There's not much here to see

Our crosses stand and mark our place

No photographs to show our face

We died with honor and with grace

Please say a prayer for me

Just boys we were when we arrived

It's sad that most did not survive

We gave our souls, we gave our lives

So this world could be free

I remember though one Christmas Day

The war was stopped so we could play

I wish it could  remain this way

We had no enemy

So, here I lie beneath the earth

My life is what your freedoms worth

My tale is one but there's a dearth

Of others here like me

But now I just enjoy the view

The birds above and folks like you

Will keep my story, fresh, anew

Just please...remember me.
.

From Austin on to Pensacola
from there I went to South Dakota
Moved on back to Arizona
Just trying to start a life

Went from Flagstaff to Daytona
then headed out just past Pamona
hung around and hit Sedona
Just trying to start a life

It didn't matter where I was
I had to move on just because
She'd find me in my dreams
I shut my eyes but couldn't sleep
Her image in my mind would creep
She'd find me in my dreams

Spent some time down in L.A.
There she was so I couldn't stay
Went and moved to Spanish Bay
But there she was again

Found a place in Monte Ray
only stayed there for a day
went down south down by Queens Cay
But, she followed me again

I shut my eyes and I did find
Her image burned into my mind
The girl was in my dreams
Although I tried to start anew
There was nothing I could say or do
And you should have heard my screams

I tried again, but had no luck
I even slept inside a truck
I woke up cuddled with a duck
And again her in my dreams

I'd been all 'round this country side
I'd walked, and flew and hitched a ride
It may be better if I died
But, I'm sure she'd find those dreams

I'm sure it didn't matter where
She didn't really care
She would always haunt my dreams
Hair so blonde and eyes of blue
I just can not get rid of you
You'll never leave my dreams

Stopped into a back roads diner
Somewhere just off Carolina
Highway thirty three
Sign said "open", I went in
Pushed the RC handle made of tin
Not a soul around that I could see

Waitress came out from the back
Name plate said her name was "Jack"
I'm glad I came in
Ordered up some milk and pie
This waitress sure did catch my eye
Pushing that RC ad made of tin

Told her that I was passing through
Not staying long, had things to do
Smiling, she  said "You'll stay"
I said I'' need a place to rest
She named one place...the best
Out by the bay

There's not much to do round here
We only serve three kinds of beer
and the Carolina Zoom Zoom
we make in the back room
It goes down as smooth as ever
Turn your insides straight to leather
That Carolina Zoom Zoom
we make in the back room


"Jack" sat down and asked my story
told her, "lots of pressure, lots of worry"
Don't worry ***, it'll go
I asked her how she could just say that
Took off my coat and then my ball hat
Just how was she to know

She said "I read people when they're here"
Some folks stay, some disappear
You'll be here a while
She said "you're driving time is over"
"I think you'll end up, as the new owner"
"Of this place"...with a smile

I said "there's no people here to sell to"
"What the heck would I do"
owning this with no one here at all
She laughed and said "I am agreeing"
But you are looking but not seeing
Money's made behind the yonder wall

There's not much to do round here
We only serve three kinds of beer
and the Carolina Zoom Zoom
we make in the back room
It goes down as smooth as ever
Turn your insides straight to leather
That Carolina Zoom Zoom
we make in the back room

She said it was a truck stop diner
That sold the best ***** in all Carolina
Carolina zoom zoom in the back
Recipe's been here for ages
Brewed real slow, distilled in stages
Always forty jugs out on the rack

We've sold to Robert Johnson and Bocephus
You may choose to not believe this
I wouldn't lie about that fact
The diner never makes much money
But, the back room, there's the honey
sure as i know I'm called Jack

She said she lived in an old trailer
That she traded with a sailor
For a case five   years ago
Moved it back on up the hill
There she could watch on the still
If I bought, she'd have to go

I thought a while, made two offers
Money to fill up her coffers
And she had to stay
She smiled, asked me if I'm certain
Did I mean it, or was I just flirtin'
I told her I was set to pay

There's not much to do round here
We only serve three kinds of beer
and the Carolina Zoom Zoom
we make in the back room
It goes down as smooth as ever
Turn your insides straight to leather
That Carolina Zoom Zoom
we make in the back room

I've been the owner fifteen years
I changed my life, by changing gears
Jack is still with me
Thank god I stopped in to this diner
Back in the back roads off Carolina
Highway thiry three

I went to the river
once there, I wandered in
I went to the river
and washed away my sin
i came back from the river
I found my truck up on the road
i came back from the river
ready to re-load

I'm not sure if this is how to say it
drinking with the devil takes it's toll
you have to walk away instead of staying
for if you stay the devil gets your soul

you can live a life of excess if you want to
an endless circle pushed to the extremes
the party seems like it is never ending
but when it does, you're left with broken dreams

you can reload if you want but just be cautious
the devil knows your weakness after all
he knows you wash your sins out in the river
but, he also knows, one day you'll hear his call

I went to the river
once there, I wandered in
I went to the river
and washed away my sin
i came back from the river
I found my truck up on the road
i came back from the river
ready to re-load

you have a choice when you go to the river
do you follow it, and just avoid the road
get on a boat and see where it is leading
or just have a splash, and meet at the cross road

life is full of twists and turns and effort
the river is just a stop along the way
but, the devil knows you never really mean it
once you wash your sins, you head on back to play

in the end you'll end up on the roadway
the river bed is dry and is long dead
the sins you washed away there are just dust now
because there was no truth in what you said

I went to the river
once there, I wandered in
I went to the river
and washed away my sin
i came back from the river
I found my truck up on the road
i came back from the river
ready to re-load

I went to the river
once there, I wandered in
I went to the river
and washed away my sin
i came back from the river
I found my truck up on the road
i came back from the river
ready to re-load

Smiling face
and laughing eyes
I can't believe
I fell for all those lies
I think it's best
we share goodbyes
You're just an actor in lifes play

Standing there
upon the stage
reciting speeches
from the page
while i sit fuming
full of rage
You're just an actor in life's play

To me you're just an empty shell
Who I will meet again in hell
With others words, such tales you tell
And I believed them.....I believed

I thought that
what you said was true
That you loved me
like I loved you
Then I found out
That's what you do
You're an actor on life's stage

The real you
is a mystery
You've got a
blackened history
I can't believe
you did this to me
You're an actor on life's stage

Another play
Another role
Crawl on back
into your hole
You're an empty vessel
With a blackened soul
You're an actor on life's stage

The real you
you will find no more
it's just a role
you played before
so many lives
that you've lost score
you're an actor on life's stage

Silence falls
as you will find
No actor's mask
to hide behind
The play will end
Time is not kind
You're an actor with no stage

To me you're just an empty shell
Who I will meet again in hell
With others words, such tales you tell
And I believed them.....I believed

I'm drinking for tomorrow
I gave up drinking for today
Because tomorrow never comes
Or so they say

I figure if I'm drinking
and tomorrow does arrive
then I have found a new way to survive

I was drinking yesterday
towards tomorrow, now today
It's a deep dark endless circle
that keeps tomorrow far away

I'm going to continue
Until tomorrow is today
though tomorrow never comes
or so they say

Somewhere there's a bottle
with my name there on the label
I have to find the tavern
and I have to find that table
one day I will find it
as long as I am able
to reach into tomorrow from today

so, right now I do my drinking
for tomorrow, not today
I did some drinking yesterday
but, that's now far away
I'll try to reach tomorrow from today

it is an endless circle
on a track without a train
tomorrow holds the sunshine
but today is filled with rain
one day I know i'll reach it
and forever I will gain
the fact I reached tomorrow from today

Listen to me and I'm sure you'll see
That because of the brave
We all live free

Freedom to choose what we will be
Because of the brave
We all live free

I pledge my alliegence
I honor my flag
I honor my country
My support will not drag

We whine about government
We whine about crime
We whine about taxes
We whine about time

The freedom to choose
Of how life will be
Is because of the brave
That we all live free

We live life as free men
and women as well
For if we did not have freedom
Then we'd be in hell

We complain to the masses
Because that is our right
We enjoy that freedom
Because of the ones who did fight

They sacrificed all
So our ideals we'd save
We're the land of the free
Because of the brave